The central and Okinawa Prefectural governments kicked off talks on Wednesday to break an impasse over a plan to build a new U.S. military base within the prefecture to replace U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Hours before the "intensive consultations" started on the replacement for the Futenma base, a U.S. military helicopter crash landed aboard a ship off Okinawa's main island, sparking anger among local citizens already concerned about the risks Okinawa faces by hosting the bulk of U.S. military installations in Japan.
The consultations, to be held once a week or roughly five times through Sept. 9, began with a meeting between Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga.